Dele Alli has found himself in the headlines quite a bit already this season as he bids to recapture his best form for club and country.
Missing the start of the campaign due to a hamstring injury sustained before the team's final pre-season friendly against Inter Milan, the 23-year-old has only appeared in seven games for the Lilywhites.
Although he did net the crucial equaliser in the late 1-1 draw against Watford last month, the midfielder has struggled to make a big impact and as a consequence has lot his place in the England squad.
Alli was once again far from his best in the 2-1 defeat against Liverpool last time out and he was criticised by Sky Sports pundits Roy Keane, Graeme Souness and Gary Neville for his display.
Currently a long way off the fantastic form he showed during his first two seasons in N17, manager Mauricio Pochettino is in no doubt that his midfielder will be soon be back in the headlines for the right reasons.
"Dele, we talk a lot about Dele," he said. "Always I will support my player, and support my squad.
"When you don’t win, or at the level of this team, always we are observed and exposed to the opinions of different people.
"The most important is to pay attention to yourself and work hard.
"We know very well that Dele is going to be back."
Having struggled for form and with injuries over the past two seasons, Pochettino does not believe that his mentality has changed as a result.
"No, his mentality is good," he added. "His mentality after a tough period, always you need time to recover the feelings and performance.
"If you were unavailable, or you had an unbelievable performance a time ago, the time after is to recover.
"The most difficult thing is to know how long it will take to be again at your best.
"As long as you are consistent and working hard, you are going to arrive again because the quality is there. Only the competition do not wait.
"If the quality and results are not so good, of course you are exposed to the criticism. I am the first.
"A few months ago we got a lot of praise and we were the best. Then when you don’t get good results, you are exposed and you need to accept the criticism when results are good and not so good."
A player who previously found himself in the media for the wrong reasons whether that be about his temperament or a late tackle, Alli has mainly found himself in the headlines recently because of a drop from the high standards he produced when he first burst onto the scene.
However, Pochettino does believe that Alli still has a bit of devilment in his game and it will return again at some point.
"It’s still there inside of him," he added. "We spoke with him about improving different areas. But for sure the devil is going to appear again.
"I don’t know when. But for sure it will."
Asked if it will be in a good way. he added: "If you go back, we all criticised him. But remember I said I said I liked this Dele Alli. Because sometimes players being a bit naughty makes that difference."
